American Moviegoer Has Apparently Never Heard of Sneaking Snacks into Theaters, Sues AMC

For years, you’ve had to make a special pre-movie-theater trip just to obtain reasonably priced snacks. Sure, an extra $2 for a bag of M&Ms didn’t mean that much to you in the “big picture,” but it was $2 extra going to the theater that had already charged you a ridiculously expensive movie ticket; it became a George Costanza-esque grudge against the multiplex. It was morally demanding, though—you felt like a criminal every time you handed the usher your ticket and he eyed your purse, which suspiciously sloshed like a fountain Coke and smelled like microwave popcorn. You’ve ruined many a movie-theater handbag (categorized as a movie-theater handbag for its sturdiness, roominess, and candy-stowing compartments) with smuggled coffee and Sno-caps. But you may not have to sacrifice your pride and purse lining much longer if one moviegoer from Michigan gets his way.

The Detroit Free Press reports that Joshua Thompson, a twenty-something security technician who, like your blogger, is partial to Coke and Goobers, filed a lawsuit against his local AMC theater after management hung a sign declaring that customers could no longer bring outside drinks and snacks into the establishment. The D.F.P. notes that until that point, Thompson had been providing his own refreshments but, refusing to violate said rule, is now seeking a concession-stand concession through the legal system.

The suit notes that on December 26, Thompson “paid $8 for a Coke and a package of Goobers chocolate-covered peanuts at the Livonia theater -- nearly three times the $2.73 he paid for the same items at a nearby fast-food restaurant and drug store.”

Heroically, Thompson demands that the theater refund customers who have also been overcharged for their snacks. Says his lawyer Kerry Morgan, “he got tired of being taken advantage of.”

If that is the case, let's just hope for Thompson's sake that he never gets hungry while flying coach, signs a 24-month cell-phone contact, or orders a beer at Yankee stadium